Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Image Comics (2012), Paperback, 160 pages
Description
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AgneJakubauskaite
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Brian Vaughan’s “Saga, Volume 1” is a collection of six first issues of an epic award-wining fantasy and science fiction comic book series Saga. Marko and Alana’s love is doomed: they belong to two different races that, as long as anyone can remember, have been trying to
THUMBS UP:
1) One of a kind.
“Saga, Volume 1” has magic, romance, spaceships, ghosts, robots, drama, nightmarish creatures, explicit sex scenes, action, humor and even DEPTH. You would never expect such chaos to result in anything good but, against all odds, the end product is a shocking, enthralling and hugely satisfying blend. Also, even though the major premise is not that unique, thanks to Vaughan’s limitless imagination and Fiona Staples’ flawless execution, the story is simply incomparable. By the way, did I mention that the narrator is a newly born baby?
2) Positively disturbing.
From grand entrances and explicit language to violence and nudity, Vaughan and Staples don’t hold back anything. In addition to such candidness, “Saga, Volume 1” is also full of less common but strangely uncomfortable episodes such as childbirth, breast feeding or a pooping robot. Although disturbing, such scenes are sure to capture one’s attention. Good move, Mr. Vaughan.
3) Unique yet so familiar.
One of the most attractive features of “Saga, Volume 1” is its extremely imaginative cast of characters. But no matter how bizarre the characters look, the story is surprisingly relatable because, at its core, it’s a universal tale of family, love and survival during a war where neither side is truly evil.
4) Flawless execution.
I am simply in love with Staples’ artwork. Her illustrations are expressive, dynamic and stunningly beautiful to look at, but, most importantly, I LOVE the colors, which balance out otherwise bleak war atmosphere and set a cheerful mood. Even the lettering in this book is unique as different fonts and colors are used for certain characters or different languages. Great idea!
COULD BE BETTER:
1) Controversial characters.
Although definitely unique-looking, not all the characters in “Saga” are likable. For example, The Stalk (one of the assassins) is downright repulsive, the robots are creepy and hard to sympathize with, and Alana (the female protagonist) is rather shallow and annoying. While I can understand that the villain and the robots might be disturbing ON PURPOSE, the female protagonist, unfortunately, seems simply underdeveloped.
VERDICT: 4.5 out of 5
“Saga, Volume 1,” a product of Brian Vaughan’s limitless imagination and Fiona Staples’ flawless execution, is a somewhat disturbing yet extremely captivating blend of magic, science fiction and reality. At its core, it is a familiar story of family and love in the midst of a war; however, its bizarre set of characters is anything but ordinary.
POST SCRIPTUM:
Did anyone notice that The Will kind of looks like Brian Vaughan?
Brian Vaughan’s “Saga, Volume 1” is a collection of six first issues of an epic award-wining fantasy and science fiction comic book series Saga. Marko and Alana’s love is doomed: they belong to two different races that, as long as anyone can remember, have been trying to
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destroy each other in a never-ending galactic war. All Marko and Alana want is to give their newborn a peaceful childhood neither of them had themselves, but that seems impossible as the family of three is being hunted by both sides that are determined to end the forbidden union before the word of its existence spreads.THUMBS UP:
1) One of a kind.
“Saga, Volume 1” has magic, romance, spaceships, ghosts, robots, drama, nightmarish creatures, explicit sex scenes, action, humor and even DEPTH. You would never expect such chaos to result in anything good but, against all odds, the end product is a shocking, enthralling and hugely satisfying blend. Also, even though the major premise is not that unique, thanks to Vaughan’s limitless imagination and Fiona Staples’ flawless execution, the story is simply incomparable. By the way, did I mention that the narrator is a newly born baby?
2) Positively disturbing.
From grand entrances and explicit language to violence and nudity, Vaughan and Staples don’t hold back anything. In addition to such candidness, “Saga, Volume 1” is also full of less common but strangely uncomfortable episodes such as childbirth, breast feeding or a pooping robot. Although disturbing, such scenes are sure to capture one’s attention. Good move, Mr. Vaughan.
3) Unique yet so familiar.
One of the most attractive features of “Saga, Volume 1” is its extremely imaginative cast of characters. But no matter how bizarre the characters look, the story is surprisingly relatable because, at its core, it’s a universal tale of family, love and survival during a war where neither side is truly evil.
4) Flawless execution.
I am simply in love with Staples’ artwork. Her illustrations are expressive, dynamic and stunningly beautiful to look at, but, most importantly, I LOVE the colors, which balance out otherwise bleak war atmosphere and set a cheerful mood. Even the lettering in this book is unique as different fonts and colors are used for certain characters or different languages. Great idea!
COULD BE BETTER:
1) Controversial characters.
Although definitely unique-looking, not all the characters in “Saga” are likable. For example, The Stalk (one of the assassins) is downright repulsive, the robots are creepy and hard to sympathize with, and Alana (the female protagonist) is rather shallow and annoying. While I can understand that the villain and the robots might be disturbing ON PURPOSE, the female protagonist, unfortunately, seems simply underdeveloped.
VERDICT: 4.5 out of 5
“Saga, Volume 1,” a product of Brian Vaughan’s limitless imagination and Fiona Staples’ flawless execution, is a somewhat disturbing yet extremely captivating blend of magic, science fiction and reality. At its core, it is a familiar story of family and love in the midst of a war; however, its bizarre set of characters is anything but ordinary.
POST SCRIPTUM:
Did anyone notice that The Will kind of looks like Brian Vaughan?
Show Less
LibraryThing member StormRaven
In the story of Saga the inhabitants of the world of Landfall has been at war with the inhabitants of its moon Wreath for so long that no one seems to remember when the war started, or even what it is about. All anyone seems to know is that the war has spread across the galaxy, drawing virtually
There is some rather obvious symbolism in centering a story around the birth of a child whose parents come from opposite sides of an ongoing intergalactic war, and there is no doubt that the story of Saga intends to use this metaphor quite often. The child, named Hazel, is born in the first few pages of the volume, and representatives of both Landfall and Wreath immediately show up to try to kill her parents and claim her as their prize. The rest of the volume details the efforts of Marko and Alana to find a way off of the planet Cleave to the relative safety of being on the run in interstellar space.
What makes Saga work so well is the world-building that shows through at the edges of what is really a fairly straightforward story. When the opposing forces show up for the first time, the reader gets a brief taste of the almost ritualized rules that have come to define the conflict - Marko protests to the coalition forces that they cannot attack him and his wife because they aren't on a sanctioned battlefield, and later the commander of the coalition forces radios for permission to engage the Wreath forces off-theater. Fleeting glimpses such as these build the world around the central characters tiny brick by tiny brick without becoming intrusive or distracting one from the action. The backdrop is fleshed out piece by piece - from the apparently human The Will with his sidekick Lying Cat, who is somehow able to determine when people are lying, to the spider-like The Stalk (who happens to be The Will's ex-girlfriend and ex-business partner), to the "horrible" ghosts of Cleave, who turn out to be the remnants of the planet's population wiped out by a war they didn't want to be part of, including the child Izabel who floats above the ground, her bottom half gone and a handful of ghostly entrails dangling below her torso. All of these elements blend together to create the bizarre and alien setting for the story that hint at a wider world beyond the panels that are presented to the reader and which elevates the book from an ordinary space opera to something special.
As two superpowers who fight their unceasing war by proxy, there are some fairly noticeable parallels between the Cold War conflict between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., as each seems to only rarely engage with their foe directly, preferring instead to fight against one another's allies. To a certain extent this serves to highlight just how similar the inhabitants of the two warring worlds are - the inhabitants of Wreath all have horns, while the inhabitants of Landfall all have wings. There is no identifiable pattern to these attributes, Marko has horns that curve backwards like a bighorn sheep, while his mother has little goat horns and his father has antlers. Alana has delicate insect like wings, while others from landfall are shown with feathered or bat-like wings. In some ways, the variation among each individual planet's natives seems to be at least as great as the variation between the two sets of adversaries. And this makes the intense revulsion each side has for the mere appearance of the other seem all the more interesting - a revulsion that has been passed on to their allies, as evidenced by the reaction Prince Robot IV of the Robot Kingdom has when he is told that Alana had willingly had sex with Marko. Each side sees the other as monsters, with very little justification or reflection upon the actions of their own side.
As both Wreath and Landfall seek to hunt down and kill Marko and Alana and claim Hazel as a prize, they farm out the job to others to do. Landfall's government calls upon their allies in the Robot Kingdom to do the dirty work, while the rulers of Wreath contract with a collection of freelancers to track down their targets. Not only does each side want the star-crossed lovers killed, but they want the child that resulted from their union as their own - a seeming indication that each side regards the child as having some sort of importance. Because each side seems to think that news of Marko and Alana's relationship would scandalize everyone, one would think that having the child would not be of any propaganda value - as publicizing the child's existence and the reason why it is notable would rather clearly make keeping the parentage secret an impossibility. Like so many elements in Saga, the actual reason for each side to want to claim the child is a mystery, but one that the reader can have some confidence will be unraveled later.
And the plethora of unexplained elements is one of the most interesting things about the story of Saga. The tale is told in retrospect, apparently by Hazel after she has grown up, which raises the possibility that the narrator is unreliable, as the recollections related are ones that she had to have been told by others, making much of the story hearsay. But hints are dropped that things in the "present" for the narrator are very different than the way things are in the "past" of the story being told - the most tantalizing being when Hazel describes the time of her birth as being during a time of war, implying that by the time she is recounting the story for the reader, it is no longer a time of war. But there are smaller mysteries, such as why all of the freelancers are called "The", as in "The Will", and "The Stalk". Or why the princess of the Robot Kingdom describes the conflict as one of "good versus good". Or how does the magic used by the warriors from Wreath work? And, of course, the biggest questions: Is there any reason for the war to continue other than inertia, and can a single book provide the tiny spark of hope needed to stop it?
The further one digs into Saga, the more one finds. On the surface the story is fairly conventional in ways, but as one peels back the layers, one finds more and more layers of meaning underneath them. Questions raise more questions, which raise still further questions, most of which are as yet unanswered, and in some cases, seem impossible to answer. It is a story about love told using a setting defined almost entirely by hate, in which a dead teenager becomes the regular babysitter of a newborn baby, and in which lethal individuals such as The Will are indifferent to the human misery their murderous profession causes, but who are deeply affected by the plight of a young girl they come across. Saga is full of puzzling contradictions and and troubling questions, but also, and most importantly, complex and fascinating characters that make the reader care about the story and look forward to the next volume.
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every other known race into the conflict, and the two opposing sides loathe one another with an intense hatred. Against this backdrop Marko and Alana, originally soldiers from opposite sides in the struggle, have deserted the armies' of their respective homelands and fallen in love, gotten married, and had a child together. And this union sparks a crisis for both sides.There is some rather obvious symbolism in centering a story around the birth of a child whose parents come from opposite sides of an ongoing intergalactic war, and there is no doubt that the story of Saga intends to use this metaphor quite often. The child, named Hazel, is born in the first few pages of the volume, and representatives of both Landfall and Wreath immediately show up to try to kill her parents and claim her as their prize. The rest of the volume details the efforts of Marko and Alana to find a way off of the planet Cleave to the relative safety of being on the run in interstellar space.
What makes Saga work so well is the world-building that shows through at the edges of what is really a fairly straightforward story. When the opposing forces show up for the first time, the reader gets a brief taste of the almost ritualized rules that have come to define the conflict - Marko protests to the coalition forces that they cannot attack him and his wife because they aren't on a sanctioned battlefield, and later the commander of the coalition forces radios for permission to engage the Wreath forces off-theater. Fleeting glimpses such as these build the world around the central characters tiny brick by tiny brick without becoming intrusive or distracting one from the action. The backdrop is fleshed out piece by piece - from the apparently human The Will with his sidekick Lying Cat, who is somehow able to determine when people are lying, to the spider-like The Stalk (who happens to be The Will's ex-girlfriend and ex-business partner), to the "horrible" ghosts of Cleave, who turn out to be the remnants of the planet's population wiped out by a war they didn't want to be part of, including the child Izabel who floats above the ground, her bottom half gone and a handful of ghostly entrails dangling below her torso. All of these elements blend together to create the bizarre and alien setting for the story that hint at a wider world beyond the panels that are presented to the reader and which elevates the book from an ordinary space opera to something special.
As two superpowers who fight their unceasing war by proxy, there are some fairly noticeable parallels between the Cold War conflict between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., as each seems to only rarely engage with their foe directly, preferring instead to fight against one another's allies. To a certain extent this serves to highlight just how similar the inhabitants of the two warring worlds are - the inhabitants of Wreath all have horns, while the inhabitants of Landfall all have wings. There is no identifiable pattern to these attributes, Marko has horns that curve backwards like a bighorn sheep, while his mother has little goat horns and his father has antlers. Alana has delicate insect like wings, while others from landfall are shown with feathered or bat-like wings. In some ways, the variation among each individual planet's natives seems to be at least as great as the variation between the two sets of adversaries. And this makes the intense revulsion each side has for the mere appearance of the other seem all the more interesting - a revulsion that has been passed on to their allies, as evidenced by the reaction Prince Robot IV of the Robot Kingdom has when he is told that Alana had willingly had sex with Marko. Each side sees the other as monsters, with very little justification or reflection upon the actions of their own side.
As both Wreath and Landfall seek to hunt down and kill Marko and Alana and claim Hazel as a prize, they farm out the job to others to do. Landfall's government calls upon their allies in the Robot Kingdom to do the dirty work, while the rulers of Wreath contract with a collection of freelancers to track down their targets. Not only does each side want the star-crossed lovers killed, but they want the child that resulted from their union as their own - a seeming indication that each side regards the child as having some sort of importance. Because each side seems to think that news of Marko and Alana's relationship would scandalize everyone, one would think that having the child would not be of any propaganda value - as publicizing the child's existence and the reason why it is notable would rather clearly make keeping the parentage secret an impossibility. Like so many elements in Saga, the actual reason for each side to want to claim the child is a mystery, but one that the reader can have some confidence will be unraveled later.
And the plethora of unexplained elements is one of the most interesting things about the story of Saga. The tale is told in retrospect, apparently by Hazel after she has grown up, which raises the possibility that the narrator is unreliable, as the recollections related are ones that she had to have been told by others, making much of the story hearsay. But hints are dropped that things in the "present" for the narrator are very different than the way things are in the "past" of the story being told - the most tantalizing being when Hazel describes the time of her birth as being during a time of war, implying that by the time she is recounting the story for the reader, it is no longer a time of war. But there are smaller mysteries, such as why all of the freelancers are called "The", as in "The Will", and "The Stalk". Or why the princess of the Robot Kingdom describes the conflict as one of "good versus good". Or how does the magic used by the warriors from Wreath work? And, of course, the biggest questions: Is there any reason for the war to continue other than inertia, and can a single book provide the tiny spark of hope needed to stop it?
The further one digs into Saga, the more one finds. On the surface the story is fairly conventional in ways, but as one peels back the layers, one finds more and more layers of meaning underneath them. Questions raise more questions, which raise still further questions, most of which are as yet unanswered, and in some cases, seem impossible to answer. It is a story about love told using a setting defined almost entirely by hate, in which a dead teenager becomes the regular babysitter of a newborn baby, and in which lethal individuals such as The Will are indifferent to the human misery their murderous profession causes, but who are deeply affected by the plight of a young girl they come across. Saga is full of puzzling contradictions and and troubling questions, but also, and most importantly, complex and fascinating characters that make the reader care about the story and look forward to the next volume.
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LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
From the back of the book: “Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old world.” Readers are
I won’t say more than that about the plot, because this volume goes by fast. But I was hooked from page one! I went into this knowing zero about the plot or characters – I had only seen the cover and that it was recommended by a couple of Instagram accounts I follow. The first sentence had me laughing and I instantly enjoyed the dynamic of Alana and Markus. From what I’ve learned about the world Vaughan created so far, I’m very interested in learning more of the back story between the two sides. It’s easy to see there are some “heroes” and “villains” in this story – in the sense that there are going to be characters you’re for and against – yet I can already tell all the characters are very complicated. People aren’t just bad – they’ve done bad things, or made bad choices, but the characters already seem very complex to me.
And the art! The art! I love the style of Fiona Staples – the people and…creatures…in this book are amazing. It’s definitely full of odd characters – reminds me a bit of worlds like the one in The Fifth Element or the first version of Total Recall – some are pretty disturbing, actually.
Also, a warning – there is nudity (full frontal though not extremely detailed), gore and explicit language, so be prepared!
It’s wonderful – just wonderful. Read it! I’ve already ordered volumes two and three and can’t wait to devour them as soon as they arrive next week!
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started right in the middle of the action, as Alana and Markus deal with the birth of their first child and then are forced to flee due to being discovered by both of the warring factions. There are hired assassins from both sides of the government out to kill the couple and steal their child. Meanwhile, the couple just wants to be free of the never-ending war and find a safe place for their newborn.I won’t say more than that about the plot, because this volume goes by fast. But I was hooked from page one! I went into this knowing zero about the plot or characters – I had only seen the cover and that it was recommended by a couple of Instagram accounts I follow. The first sentence had me laughing and I instantly enjoyed the dynamic of Alana and Markus. From what I’ve learned about the world Vaughan created so far, I’m very interested in learning more of the back story between the two sides. It’s easy to see there are some “heroes” and “villains” in this story – in the sense that there are going to be characters you’re for and against – yet I can already tell all the characters are very complicated. People aren’t just bad – they’ve done bad things, or made bad choices, but the characters already seem very complex to me.
And the art! The art! I love the style of Fiona Staples – the people and…creatures…in this book are amazing. It’s definitely full of odd characters – reminds me a bit of worlds like the one in The Fifth Element or the first version of Total Recall – some are pretty disturbing, actually.
Also, a warning – there is nudity (full frontal though not extremely detailed), gore and explicit language, so be prepared!
It’s wonderful – just wonderful. Read it! I’ve already ordered volumes two and three and can’t wait to devour them as soon as they arrive next week!
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LibraryThing member pocketmermaid
There are a lot of writers I love, but only a few that I go TOTALLY FREAKIN' WILD FOR. Brian K. Vaughan is one of those writers. And I cheered -- quite literally and loudly -- when I found out that he was returning to comics. When I found out the plot of this new series -- star-crossed lovers from
"Saga" is so wonderfully bizarre, eye-poppingly dirty, and fantastically intense. I love that our two lovebirds, Alana and Marko, feel like real people with a rich history as a couple and as individuals. Vaughan's dialogue, as ever, is unique which serves his story and draws the reader in. The politics, the war, the royal robots, the bounty hunters, the people and races we meet (LYING CAT! GHOSTS! MAGICIANS! UNICORN-LADY!), and the, um, let's say, DIVERSITY of the planets are all rich amazing threads that would turn into a knot in another writer's hands. Vaughan has created an epic world that sprawls galaxies and takes you along for the ride on magical tree spaceships.
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warring nations running for their lives ... IN SPACE -- I cheered some more. This is a story that I had no idea that I desperately wanted to be told."Saga" is so wonderfully bizarre, eye-poppingly dirty, and fantastically intense. I love that our two lovebirds, Alana and Marko, feel like real people with a rich history as a couple and as individuals. Vaughan's dialogue, as ever, is unique which serves his story and draws the reader in. The politics, the war, the royal robots, the bounty hunters, the people and races we meet (LYING CAT! GHOSTS! MAGICIANS! UNICORN-LADY!), and the, um, let's say, DIVERSITY of the planets are all rich amazing threads that would turn into a knot in another writer's hands. Vaughan has created an epic world that sprawls galaxies and takes you along for the ride on magical tree spaceships.
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LibraryThing member snat
How to describe Saga? It's like someone took Firefly, coated it liberally in WTF, and sprinkled a little Quentin Tarantino on top. Yeah, it's some wonderfully messed up stuff.
The planet Landfall is at war with one of its moons, known as Wreath. The indigenous people of Landfall seem reliant on
Now enter Marko and Alana, from Wreath and Landfall, respectively, who are ex-soldiers in this war. Defying their cultures, they have fallen in love and their newborn child, Hazel, has marked them for termination by basically everyone in the universe. Both have known violence and are adept at using it to protect each other and Hazel. On the run from the numerous assassins tracking them, they banter away like a married couple and slowly reveal the history that brought them to this juncture.
And now for a convenient list of the absurdities that await the Saga reader, so you can gauge whether or not the "WTF" element is acceptable to you:
--a planet known as Sextillion that specializes in, you guessed it, sex
--prostitutes that consist of giant heads teetering on top of Rockette style legs
--a forest that actually grows rocketships
--a race of robots that have television screens for heads
--graphic sex scene featuring the aforementioned robots
--a topless assassin with the torso of a human (sans arms) and spider from the waist down
--the ghost of a teenage girl who must have suffered a gruesome death as she's nothing but hanging intestines from the waist down; naturally, she tags along as Hazel's "babysitter"
--and LYING CAT, my new favorite comic book character is a giant feline sidekick to The Will, one of the assassins contacted about offing Marko and Alana; Lying Cat can detect whether or not others are engaging in a bit of creative truth telling
While the base storyline is one we've read before, the execution is unlike anything I've ever read. Vaughan gleefully injects new and intriguing absurdities into the premise and it's really difficult to get a fix on where this sucker is going--but that's part of the great thing. The ride is so much fun that I really don't care. The artwork by Fiona Staples has a raw and edgy quality that suits the storyline perfectly.
I've been getting the monthly issues, which have the added benefit of a letters section in which Vaughan responds to reader letters. The results are often hilarious and I find myself looking forward to this section with the same anticipation I look forward to the storyline.
The planet Landfall is at war with one of its moons, known as Wreath. The indigenous people of Landfall seem reliant on
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technology and sport some nifty little insect-like wings, while the people of Wreath have horns (they may be my favorites, as each character in the later issues have horns varying from rhino, to antelope, to ox) and are adept at magic. The war between these cultures has become an accepted part of life, the hatred of the enemy deeply ingrained in both species.Now enter Marko and Alana, from Wreath and Landfall, respectively, who are ex-soldiers in this war. Defying their cultures, they have fallen in love and their newborn child, Hazel, has marked them for termination by basically everyone in the universe. Both have known violence and are adept at using it to protect each other and Hazel. On the run from the numerous assassins tracking them, they banter away like a married couple and slowly reveal the history that brought them to this juncture.
And now for a convenient list of the absurdities that await the Saga reader, so you can gauge whether or not the "WTF" element is acceptable to you:
--a planet known as Sextillion that specializes in, you guessed it, sex
--prostitutes that consist of giant heads teetering on top of Rockette style legs
--a forest that actually grows rocketships
--a race of robots that have television screens for heads
--graphic sex scene featuring the aforementioned robots
--a topless assassin with the torso of a human (sans arms) and spider from the waist down
--the ghost of a teenage girl who must have suffered a gruesome death as she's nothing but hanging intestines from the waist down; naturally, she tags along as Hazel's "babysitter"
--and LYING CAT, my new favorite comic book character is a giant feline sidekick to The Will, one of the assassins contacted about offing Marko and Alana; Lying Cat can detect whether or not others are engaging in a bit of creative truth telling
While the base storyline is one we've read before, the execution is unlike anything I've ever read. Vaughan gleefully injects new and intriguing absurdities into the premise and it's really difficult to get a fix on where this sucker is going--but that's part of the great thing. The ride is so much fun that I really don't care. The artwork by Fiona Staples has a raw and edgy quality that suits the storyline perfectly.
I've been getting the monthly issues, which have the added benefit of a letters section in which Vaughan responds to reader letters. The results are often hilarious and I find myself looking forward to this section with the same anticipation I look forward to the storyline.
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LibraryThing member iansales
Many people, many many people, have recommended this, and so I had initially avoided it. But there I was in Faraos Cigarer in Copenhagen, and I picked out Starlight as worth a read and all the graphic novels I really wanted were upstairs and by Moebius and in Danish… so I eventually succumbed and
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bought the first volume of Saga. I could have bought the Danish bandes dessinées by Moebius, of course, or even the hardback volumes of Valerian and Laureline, also in Danish, but it would mean learning a new language to read them, which seems daft when they’re originally French and that’s a language I can actually read (with a dictionary at hand, admittedly). Anyway, Saga… I didn’t like it. I really didn’t. It is allegedly a space opera, but there’s zero rigour to the setting, one side uses magic, there are a race of robots who have human bodies but TVs for heads, and people actually use mobile phones and apps. See, you have a man and a woman, from each side of a generational war – one lot have wings, the others have horns – and they have a child. Er, so why do you need science fiction to tell this story? I guess calling a race war story a “space opera” makes it more palatable to readers. And, of course, it means the story is not “politicized”. FFS. So there you have it: weak title, paper-thin allegory, paper-thin setting, and a total lack of rigour. Nice art, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kurt.Rocourt
This is good but I find that most people overhype how good it is. If you know about stories from th 1980s and Mtv in the 1980s this is just a love letter to that era. It should get better later but this first outting is just average.
LibraryThing member Kellswitch
I was rather under whelmed by this book, it wasn’t bad but it didn’t live up to the hype for me.
The art is decent, some characters or images are fairly spectacular while others are flatter and more generic seeming, uninspired and sometimes in the same panel. I find the combination distracting
The character design is excellent though, you really get a feel for each character and race, for me this was the strongest thing this book has going for it.
The story though is rather generic and doesn’t really do anything new it except for throw some “shocking” and “edgy” images and ideas that came across as being shocking just for the sake of being shocking vs. really needing to be in the book and a part of the story.
Also, I HATE the narrator conceit, it was distracting and felt cheesy and really interrupted the flow of the story for me.
In the end what it comes down to me with this book is this. It didn’t make me care, I don’t care about the story or the character or what is going to happen next. Should I remember to check my library for the second volume I may check it out but I suspect I’ll forget all about it.
Interesting enough to be worth reading as a library (or friend) rental but not worth buying or rereading.
The art is decent, some characters or images are fairly spectacular while others are flatter and more generic seeming, uninspired and sometimes in the same panel. I find the combination distracting
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and for me it doesn’t work. The character design is excellent though, you really get a feel for each character and race, for me this was the strongest thing this book has going for it.
The story though is rather generic and doesn’t really do anything new it except for throw some “shocking” and “edgy” images and ideas that came across as being shocking just for the sake of being shocking vs. really needing to be in the book and a part of the story.
Also, I HATE the narrator conceit, it was distracting and felt cheesy and really interrupted the flow of the story for me.
In the end what it comes down to me with this book is this. It didn’t make me care, I don’t care about the story or the character or what is going to happen next. Should I remember to check my library for the second volume I may check it out but I suspect I’ll forget all about it.
Interesting enough to be worth reading as a library (or friend) rental but not worth buying or rereading.
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LibraryThing member lycomayflower
*review of volumes 1-3 as a whole*
Each of these volumes collects about five issues of the comic book Saga, which follows two soldiers from opposite sides of a centuries' long war who have fallen in love, had a child, and are now on the run from a variety of baddies who are trying to track them
Each of these volumes collects about five issues of the comic book Saga, which follows two soldiers from opposite sides of a centuries' long war who have fallen in love, had a child, and are now on the run from a variety of baddies who are trying to track them
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down. The story is first rate, with action, humor, and truly touching moments in about equal measure. And the bad guys are just as interesting as the goodies (I want them all to be okay. This is not possible. And some of the baddies have done very bad things to the goodies. But they have their own reasons and lives and. And and and. Squee.) I'm about as invested in this story and these characters as I have been in any story I've ever read, and I can't wait until the next volume comes out (and I'm just OCD enough about editions that I'm making myself wait for the next collection rather than trying to hunt down the individual issues). The artwork is also gorgeous. Recommended. (Do take heed of that "mature" rating, though.) Show Less
LibraryThing member questbird
A space opera comic with aliens, space war, mercenaries, robots, ghosts and wisecracks.
LibraryThing member Pabkins
Now that I’ve been everywhere and seen everything…
No really, that’s pretty much how I felt after I finished enjoying Saga, Volume One. It’s as if the writer decided to give me a heaping dose of everything I love about SFF fiction. It was science fiction, it was fantasy, it was horror –
Thus begins our story
We are immediately introduced to the couple Alana and Marko. They are from opposing sides in an ever ongoing war between two worlds, Wreath and Cleave. These two races couldn’t settle on just fighting each other, no no sir, they dragged the entire galaxy into their war and have been slowly destroying other planets by pulling them into the fray as well. So how did these two lovers end up together? Don’t you know the prisoner always falls for their captor? As they are star crossed lovers Alana broke Marko out of lockup and they went into hiding to have their baby. The plot thickens because the two opposing factions aren’t going to just let these two and their little baby go. That could very well jeopardize the way people think, others might decide it’s ok to fraternize with the enemy and what government would possibly stand for losing control of the way their populace thinks? Pretty much everyone is after them. Each of their races, free lance bounty hunters, weird robotic nobility and who the hell knows who else. It makes for a serious mad-cap dash across an entire planet and into the stars.
Let’s talk about sex and violence, we’ve got it in spades
The violence in Saga is gruesome and yet so much fun. There is just something to be viciously enjoyed about disemboweled monkeys not to mention a ghostly half girl with her intestines floating forever beneath her. Too sick for you? Well then this might not be for you. You should also know there are several graphic scenes that involve all the naked tasty bits of not just humanoids but some various many limbed aliens. I don’t consider this an erotic graphic novel but there are very adult scenes and themes so just bare that in mind if you are offended by that sort of thing this might not be your cup of tea.
Really tho, there is so much I could say
But I can’t! I won’t! I don’t even want to ruin it by giving anything away. You just have to know that this graphic novel is a face punch full of whicky in the wacky woo awesome. Not only is the dialogue highly entertaining (a delicious brand of humor here I say!) – but if you haven’t noticed that cover art – all of it is just that amazing. Sometimes I find that cover art on graphic novels is better than the overall quality of art you’ll get throughout the novel. But not so here, every freaking panel is that good. Believe it. The storyline manages to be touching, hilarious and gruesome. How the hell did they pull that off? Someone laid a golden egg in this writer/artist duos brains because the work they’ve accomplished together on this some of the best I’ve not read. Read it or we can’t be friends.
No really, that’s pretty much how I felt after I finished enjoying Saga, Volume One. It’s as if the writer decided to give me a heaping dose of everything I love about SFF fiction. It was science fiction, it was fantasy, it was horror –
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hell it was even erotica and romance. What more could I possibly have wanted? Lie detecting cats? Oh wait yeah it has that too. Saga was ultimately a whole helluva lot of WTF in only the best ways.Thus begins our story
We are immediately introduced to the couple Alana and Marko. They are from opposing sides in an ever ongoing war between two worlds, Wreath and Cleave. These two races couldn’t settle on just fighting each other, no no sir, they dragged the entire galaxy into their war and have been slowly destroying other planets by pulling them into the fray as well. So how did these two lovers end up together? Don’t you know the prisoner always falls for their captor? As they are star crossed lovers Alana broke Marko out of lockup and they went into hiding to have their baby. The plot thickens because the two opposing factions aren’t going to just let these two and their little baby go. That could very well jeopardize the way people think, others might decide it’s ok to fraternize with the enemy and what government would possibly stand for losing control of the way their populace thinks? Pretty much everyone is after them. Each of their races, free lance bounty hunters, weird robotic nobility and who the hell knows who else. It makes for a serious mad-cap dash across an entire planet and into the stars.
Let’s talk about sex and violence, we’ve got it in spades
The violence in Saga is gruesome and yet so much fun. There is just something to be viciously enjoyed about disemboweled monkeys not to mention a ghostly half girl with her intestines floating forever beneath her. Too sick for you? Well then this might not be for you. You should also know there are several graphic scenes that involve all the naked tasty bits of not just humanoids but some various many limbed aliens. I don’t consider this an erotic graphic novel but there are very adult scenes and themes so just bare that in mind if you are offended by that sort of thing this might not be your cup of tea.
Really tho, there is so much I could say
But I can’t! I won’t! I don’t even want to ruin it by giving anything away. You just have to know that this graphic novel is a face punch full of whicky in the wacky woo awesome. Not only is the dialogue highly entertaining (a delicious brand of humor here I say!) – but if you haven’t noticed that cover art – all of it is just that amazing. Sometimes I find that cover art on graphic novels is better than the overall quality of art you’ll get throughout the novel. But not so here, every freaking panel is that good. Believe it. The storyline manages to be touching, hilarious and gruesome. How the hell did they pull that off? Someone laid a golden egg in this writer/artist duos brains because the work they’ve accomplished together on this some of the best I’ve not read. Read it or we can’t be friends.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: For as long as anyone can remember, there's been war between the technologically advanced people of Landfall, and the magic-wielding people of their moon, war that has since spread out to encompass their entire planetary system. But there are two soldiers that are fighting back - Alana (a
Review: Oh, this one was good. This is exactly the kind of graphic novel I shouldn't read, because it is funny, and in a cool world, and with interesting characters and a palpable sense of danger and really appealing artwork... and because this is only the first volume, which means I'm going to have to wait! Argh!
I think one of the things that appealed to me from the very first pages of the book was its similarity to Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone books. I mean, two peoples locked in a seemingly eternal war, with two soldiers from opposite sides falling in love with the enemy... it's just in this case, the girl's the one with the wings, and the guy's the one with the horns. But this series is more adult, and has a much more twisted sense of humor - I mean, the first line of dialogue is "Am I shitting?" But Alana and Marko are extremely interesting characters - good people, but with their fair share of flaws and bad decisions - and their relationship is interesting to watch develop. And I think Vaughan did a nice job of balancing the main story with the subplots, and providing enough details about the secondary storylines to keep me from feeling lost without distracting too much focus from the main action. The whole thing feels wonderfully epic and imaginative while still being relatable, and I can't wait to read more. (But I will have to wait. Argh, self, why do you keep starting awesome series before they're complete?) 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Not - repeat, NOT - for the kiddos. There's swearing and violence and some graphic sex. But for grown-ups, it's got a lot of elements that I think would make it appealing to fans of sci-fi/fantasy. (In particular, I'm getting a Whedon-esque vibe from it, although I can't put my finger on exactly why.)
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Landfallian) smuggled the Moony Marko out of the prison they were guarding, and the book starts with them on the lam on a planet named Cleave, in the middle of the birth of their first child. Their unusual family is being hunted by operatives from both sides, including some of the deadliest bounty hunters the galaxy has to offer. All they want is to find a way off Cleave, and find a place where they can live in peace, but accomplishing those things will be difficult in a galaxy that views them as traitors and their daughter as a miscegenated abomination.Review: Oh, this one was good. This is exactly the kind of graphic novel I shouldn't read, because it is funny, and in a cool world, and with interesting characters and a palpable sense of danger and really appealing artwork... and because this is only the first volume, which means I'm going to have to wait! Argh!
I think one of the things that appealed to me from the very first pages of the book was its similarity to Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone books. I mean, two peoples locked in a seemingly eternal war, with two soldiers from opposite sides falling in love with the enemy... it's just in this case, the girl's the one with the wings, and the guy's the one with the horns. But this series is more adult, and has a much more twisted sense of humor - I mean, the first line of dialogue is "Am I shitting?" But Alana and Marko are extremely interesting characters - good people, but with their fair share of flaws and bad decisions - and their relationship is interesting to watch develop. And I think Vaughan did a nice job of balancing the main story with the subplots, and providing enough details about the secondary storylines to keep me from feeling lost without distracting too much focus from the main action. The whole thing feels wonderfully epic and imaginative while still being relatable, and I can't wait to read more. (But I will have to wait. Argh, self, why do you keep starting awesome series before they're complete?) 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Not - repeat, NOT - for the kiddos. There's swearing and violence and some graphic sex. But for grown-ups, it's got a lot of elements that I think would make it appealing to fans of sci-fi/fantasy. (In particular, I'm getting a Whedon-esque vibe from it, although I can't put my finger on exactly why.)
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LibraryThing member jasesq
This is an amazing series - and reading it on the iPad enhances the experience significantly, as it does not simply present you with a series of pages or frames, but uses pans and zooms to selectively reveal layers of the (outstanding) artwork. Highly recommended.
LibraryThing member whitrichardson
Very much enjoyed the first TPB of Brian K Vaughan's science fiction story. Looking forward to reading further installments.
LibraryThing member orangerful
The start of something good...or just weird? Doesn't feel fair to judge until the series is complete but it has my attention.
LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
Recommended to me by a friend (thanks, Jaim!) I don't read a lot of comics/graphic novels (almost never) but this was fun and interesting and the drawings are pretty captivating. I like a lot of aspects of this story, the non-violence, the real feeling relationships, the humor. I will see if I can
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hunt down Volume Two. Show Less
LibraryThing member kayceel
Wow. This is gorgeous, funny, and very adult! Alana and Marko's planets have been fighting for years, and so they never expected to fall in love. Yet, they did. On the run from their respective armies, hunted down as deserters and traitors, all they want is a quiet place in the universe to raise
Populated by many, varied species of aliens, Saga has a lot to say about prejudice, war, love, and family. Also, it's narrated by the baby. This book is awesome.
Highly recommended for adults; there is graphic violence, language, nudity, and sexual situations.
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their brand new daughter.Populated by many, varied species of aliens, Saga has a lot to say about prejudice, war, love, and family. Also, it's narrated by the baby. This book is awesome.
Highly recommended for adults; there is graphic violence, language, nudity, and sexual situations.
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LibraryThing member kivarson
An epic tale of an unlikely offspring in a war torn universe. A child is born, the product of two unlikely lovers--both soldiers on two opposite sides of a war that soils not the home planet of Landfall, but all the planets which fall under it's empire. Is there nowhere that is safe for this family?
LibraryThing member marywilton
Star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of a galactic war. Bounty hunters, royal robots, magic, ghosts, and all the while narrated by an infant? Yes, yes and yes. A Space Opera at it's best. The art is fantastic and the story is solid. Of course, Y: The Last Man has been the best series I've read
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to date so it's not surprising how instantly I was drawn into Saga. I'm looking forward to a long run for this ongoing series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ridley_
When a book opens with a childbirth scene and the first line is the mother yelling, “Am I shitting? It feels like I'm shitting!” how could I not read on?
This is mostly a prologue, like many volume 1 trades are, but I'm hooked. From the kickass Alana to her laid-back husband Marko to the
That a copy of a romance novel, complete with clinch-style cover, looks to play a role in the effort to hunt down Alana and Marko only sweetens the deal.
This is mostly a prologue, like many volume 1 trades are, but I'm hooked. From the kickass Alana to her laid-back husband Marko to the
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ethically-complex bounty hunter The Will and his sidekick Lying Cat (a cat that says only "Lying" when someone isn't speaking the truth) to the wide variety of side characters, I want to see more of this universe caught up in a war between Alana's home planet and the moon Marko is from.That a copy of a romance novel, complete with clinch-style cover, looks to play a role in the effort to hunt down Alana and Marko only sweetens the deal.
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LibraryThing member Hegemellman
Saga is...as far as I can tell...perfect. I am flabbergasted and therefore unable to give a good account of it.
A man (with horns) and a woman (with wings) fall in love. They are from warring planets (one is the moon of the other) and the war has taken over every planet they can reach. They have a
This comic is the perfect mix of fantasy and science fiction, if your fantasy is of the Perdido Street Station variety and your science fiction is space opera. It mixes a familiarity of theme (star-crossed lovers, endless wars, dangerous planet) with an originality of setting.
I can't wait for the 2nd volume to be released.
A man (with horns) and a woman (with wings) fall in love. They are from warring planets (one is the moon of the other) and the war has taken over every planet they can reach. They have a
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baby and it isn't but a few moments before they are on the run from both sides.This comic is the perfect mix of fantasy and science fiction, if your fantasy is of the Perdido Street Station variety and your science fiction is space opera. It mixes a familiarity of theme (star-crossed lovers, endless wars, dangerous planet) with an originality of setting.
I can't wait for the 2nd volume to be released.
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LibraryThing member akmargie
As good as everyone says it is. Love the art, love the characters (especially Izabel and The Will), love the world.
LibraryThing member clockwork-serenity
You have to appreciate science fiction and fantasy to enjoy this graphic novel because there are some unique and creepy illustrated creations. There is a strong social commentary about war, violence, and racism that is well done in this story of inter-planetary segregation and rebellion. The story
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is thoroughly engrossing and the characters are well conceived. The story left me wanting to read the next volume. There is no question this is an adult graphic novel because of the sex, but mature older teens may also enjoy the story. I found the artwork decent, but not remarkable. Show Less
LibraryThing member BenjaminHahn
I absolutely love this series so far. This probably has something to do with me recently becoming a dad, but regardless I love the art style, the setting, the writing, the humor. I plan on sharing this with all my friends who enjoy space fantasy and/or have children.
LibraryThing member Twig687
I've been holding out on reading this because, well, it looked so good I was afraid it would be one of those things that made me sad when it was over. My instincts were right. 'Saga' is by turns dramatic, creepy and fun. Brian Vaughan creates great characters with real personalities, and creatures
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that are downright fascinating (where can I get a Lying Cat???). Fiona Staples' (Done to Death, Proof #6-8) illustrations are flawless. If you haven't read this, don't wait any longer. One of the best I've read this year. Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Graphic Story — 2013)
Niels Klim prisen (Nominee — 2014)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2013)
Language
Original publication date
2012-10-10
Physical description
160 p.
ISBN
1607066017 / 9781607066019
UPC
001607066017